OT: Jabari Parker nears decision

Chicago Simeon's Jabari Parker, the No. 2 senior in the country, will announce his collegiate plans on Dec. 20, according to multiple reports.

Parker's final list of schools consists of BYU, Duke, Florida, Michigan State and Stanford.

Parker's father, Sonny Parker, told USA Today he isn't sure which way his son is leaning, but he's guessing it's between Duke and Michigan State.

As a junior, Parker was named the ESPNChicago.com Player of the Year, Illinois' Mr. Basketball and the national Gatorade Player of the Year. He averaged 19.5 points, 8.9 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 3.3 blocks and 1.4 steals per game.

funny implying that a U of M grad, who is married to a U of M grad, who has been a member of a U of M blog community since 2009, and who also happens to be president of a local U of M alumni club is actually a front-running Spartan basketball fan? All because that person would rather see the Spartans good than bad?

Unfortunately in this case I don't even know if I can claim, that judgmental idiots are good for the economy.

downside for Michigan, really. Basketball isn't like football...you can have two dominant teams in the same state / recruiting territory. Large player pool for a limited # of roster spots. Also, with an actual tournament at the end of the year, potential losses to the Spartans aren't season-ruiners, assuming we continue on as a top 20 program.

I suppose I value a good rivalry game between two good teams more highly than others. It just seems like more fun.

I see where you're coming from, but I personally would rather not play against the number one player in his class nationally two or three times a season. I hate Duke as much as the next guy, but it's better for us if he's outside the Big Ten.

On the one hand, I think it's good for the conference if the Big Ten has upper echelon, NBA Caliber talent. Michigan will get ours and compete with MSU, so while this may give MSU a nice boost, it won't prevent our guys from competing for conference championships like we should. IU and OSU certainly aren't going anywhere. MSU isn't either.

On the other hand, of course I don't want to see him go to State. I'd laugh a little at the fate and feel good that we've been recruiting at or above MSU's level. But IU, OSU and MSU still aren't going anywhere.

Give me Booker, Blueitt, Doyle, Stone, and Kennard over the next few classes and I'm happy regardless of MSU's coup.

To me where we finish in the tournament defines a season's success/failure in basketball. With that being the case, I'd just as soon have the best players playing in the Big Ten. If we finish behind MSU, OSU, Indiana, etc. because they have the top talent in the country, that is just going to make our own team stronger in March. While football is sort of a zero-sum game in conference play, a strong, deep conference is possible and beneficial in basketball.

I don't understand MSU being in contention for him. It's not a good school (like Stanford or Duke); it's not a Mormon school (like BYU); and it's kinda rapey (and one would assume that a religious family would prefer their kid to go to a school with a "moral" reputation). State has had a good bball team, but nothing else seems to fit. Weird, but whatever...who knows with kids these days.

I'd switch "great" to "good" (I maintain that Izzo owes much of his success to Brian Ellerbe and Tommy "Mock Turtle" Amaker) and then I can agree with your comment...BUT...there are a lot of good (and a decent number of great coaches). If good coach/program was the most important factor, you'd expect to see UNC, Kentucky, Kansas, UCLA, etc. His list seems to highlight academics and "morality" (for lack of a better word), and then he includes MSU and Florida. Just doesn't seem to fit. It's be like a military kid choosing between Navy, Army, Texas A&M and Illinois.

Izzo is good, but not great. The only reason he looks as good as he does is because of Michigan's troubles. He had carte blanche for instate recruiting for ten years, and Michigan used to be a state with a lot of good basketball players before the migration happened.

Now that Izzo has to compete, not only instate, but within the region, against a Michigan program that is back where it belongs, he is being revealed as more like Jud Heathcote v2 than Coach K, Dean Smith, John Wooden, or other great coaches.

No offense but Izzo is considered a "great" coach by the kids. They dont care about the circumstances around Michigans downfall, they only know that Izzo has a streak of having at least 1 trip to a Final four for kids that have stayed all 4/5 years, that is a pretty impressive acomplishment.

Pretty much this (what thisisme08 said about kids' perception of Izzo). The kids being recruited today weren't even alive for the Fab Five era. They're a lot more familiar with Izzo's tournament runs that historical programs or even the occasional successes like Butler. It's been rumored to be MSU and Duke for some time now.

Izzo has also been recruiting Parker for years now so they know each other very well and Parker and his family are comfortable with Izzo and the MSU program. That familiarity probably ranks above "academics like Stanford" to him. Not to mention MSU is a lot closer to home.

Michigan state plays Michigan twice a year in bball (sometimes once, sometimes more if we meet in the B1G tourney or the very rare chance of meeting in the Big Dance). But on average they meet twice a year.

You note that Izzo owes much of his success to Brian Ellerbe and Tommy Amaker in obvious reference to what they "didn't do" while at Michigan. That being the case could you elaborate on how those two former coaches losing to Tom Izzo once or twice a year were the subsequent reason for Izzo reaching those deep tournament runs, final fours, and a championship. There are over 30 games in a season and two, in general, won't define a coach or a season.

Izzo is a great coach. You don't have to pamper to the guy, praise him left and right, or even particularly like guy, but i think you'd be hard pressed to say he's just a good coach and not a great one.

How did Ellerbe/Amaker help Izzo? Well, you note the 1-2 games per year, which has nothing to do with how they helped Izzo. When Michigan hired Ellerbe (whyyyyyy????), Izzo was granted an open door to the best talent in the state. Where previously he lost those kids to Michigan (or lost many of them), he now had almost no competition. As I mentioned above, he still has to win with the talent assembled, but it's a lot easier to win with 5*'s and that's what the Ellerbe-Amaker axis did for Izzo.

You're right, 1 or 2 wins a year doesn't help Izzo achieve his "great" coach status....which is my point.

As far as the recruiting goes, you make a fair and probably correct point about the newly-found footing for Izzo on the doorsteps of these great recruits that otherwise may (or may not) have gone to Michigan. But Izzo has been their head coach for 17 seasons (now on his 18th) and has had successful seasons with top Michigan recruits as well as bad season with top Michigan recruits. He's had plenty of 5 star players be far from the reason why his team did well in a particular season.

You brought up Amaker. In his time at Michigan, Izzo didn't win the B1G once. They also got knocked out of the NCAA tournament in the first round 3 times. They did go to the final 4 in the 2004/5 season, though that team included Alan Anderson, Shannon Brown, and Chris Hill, none of which were from Michigan. Paul Davis was a 5 star recruit on that team (from Rochester) but his mom is a MSU alumna and he grew up going to State games so i doubt he would have gone to Michigan anyway.

Izzo's most recent string of successful seasons has all come while Beilein was at the helm. Obviously, this isn't an attack on Coach B but more so making the point (and it's unfortunate that it has to be made) that Izzo is a great coach, not just a good one, and it has nothing to do with Ellerbe and Amaker. You can hate the guy all day long, as many do, but 17 seasons is a good sample and it points to him being a great coach.

That's a lot of typing, but I think you're missing my point (part of that being my fault for over-emphasizing "Michigan" recruits). Here's the boiled down version - Izzo would not be "Izzo" if it weren't for the terrible hire of Brian Ellerbe and bad hire of Tommy Amaker, because we lost of recruiting advantage with those hires. We lost the advantage for Michigan recruits, and that eventually led to national recruits also considering MSU. Even shorter version...Mateen Cleaves was in the Jeep.

hmmm. Interesting. I think i would actually agree then. If we are including all recruits then i can see how the hiring and firing of Ellerbe and Amaker opened new doors and opportunities for Izzo.

On the very specific subject of Izzo being great vs good i will have to kindly continue to object and disagree. I believe he is a great coach, not simply a good one. Even under the circumstances and parameters which you point out (and that i largely now agree with) I still believe the coach has to perform. Each situation is different but there are many great and talented teams out there in bball and other sports, where the coach does not perform well based on the talent available. Again, i do agree that Izzo's is Izzo because of Ellerbe and Amaker but i think he has done great things with that circumstance not just good things.

Good v Great is certainly going to be a debate where both sides can have good points. As far as the evolution of Izzo as a recruiter in the Ellerbe/Amaker era, check out this section from a recent Freep (I know, they're the devil, etc.) article on Izzo recruitment of Parker. To me, Izzo has had immense talent to work with (due to the terrible Michigan hires), and shouldn't his teams be winning at least as much as they have with so much talent?

But let’s not forget Mateen Cleaves, who legitimized Izzo’s young program and then made it a national champion. Richardson. Zach Randolph and Marcus Taylor, who were ranked 1-2 by some services in 2000. Kelvin Torbert, the Gatorade national player of the year in 2001. Paul Davis, ranked the No. 1 recruit in the country by Bob Gibbons in 2002. Shannon Brown a year later. The trio of Kalin Lucas, Durrell Summers and Chris Allen in 2007. Delvon Roe a year after that, a key victory over North Carolina for a consensus top-five player before the knee injury.

Parker's father has also said that Izzo has been to more games of his son than even he has - while potentially tongue-in-cheek still pretty important. Izzo has, perhaps, invested more time and energy in this recruitment than any other. He has been going to his games for a few years now and I think that jabari parker and his family acknowledge that commitment. I expect him to choose msu.

We got McGary over Duke and I hope State gets Parker over Duke. I think indirectly it helps M's recruiting when other teams in the league do well. Izzo is well aware of what is going on in AA and knows he has to pick up his game if he wants to reclaim the status of top Bball program in the State. The last sentence was to give ammunition for Spartan fans to run back to their bretheren and comment on how stupid scUM fans are. Beilein Rules yo.

I am fortunate to work with special needs kids, and while I will readily admit that the whole PC thing is overdone, the "R word" is something I would expect to see on an Ohio board. Let's class it up a touch.